Im not really sure what a lot of that post meant, honestly. Hope I did not cause you offence. Was not my intention.
Thought I was being pretty impartial because honestly I'm no where near as passionate or interested in politics as I was even 5 years ago.
I have even lost track of what crime we are talking about. If you call it appalling I would believe you because you are a level headed decent guy. Genuinely lost track of which crime sparked the latest incident.
A lot of people I know bemoan that the Albanians cause so much crime in Brighton, now that I assume is immigration rather then asylum, differences which would be important to note because we should take asylum seekers. But I'm guessing the Albanian crime gangs are not asylum seekers.
If we had detailed records of crime and the perpetrators origins we could then target our under resourced police force better to deal with it.
I mentioned the new arrivals from Hong Kong as my wife works with one and we have been to dinner a couple of times with them. A lovely couple.
As for the direction of traffic of the thread, well I will take each post on individual merit. If marky comes put and says offensive remarks or tries to incite violence against people he should be banned. As you may know I said a stupid joke the other week, did not mean what I said in the joke. But had you guys banned me for a month I would have said fair enough, I made a stupid crass remark.
I need to see the actual remark that marky has said before I condemn him, and I will if it warrants it. Im on no ones side, I will take all sides into account.
I maintain your one of my favourite posters, a clearly intelligent person. Im a decent person but sometimes thick because to be honest with you I have actually no idea what you mean when you say your lights aren't powered by gas.
Think your a superb poster and im not trying to provoke. Must be all the Yoga the past 2 weeks but I feel on a sound equilibrium at the moment.
Understood mate, and thanks for taking the time to say that.
My biggest issue is that if we want to have discussions on topics like this (and I agree - discussion is always the best way forward) then they have to come from a place where there are at least some facts on the table. I understand the emotional velocity of many of the fudged up things happening in the world, and I further understand that some matters trigger in specific ways. My biggest single issue with this specific moment was that the facts which WERE available were apparently not enough to condemn the crime. It swiftly became a cudgel to advance other agendas, despite there being no further facts available beyond the crime itself. Like California wildfires, those small sparks in dry brush eat up hundred of acres a minute, and before you know it, the whole thing is massively beyond the starting point.
With the greatest of respect, who you choose to judge -and how- is absolutely none of my business.
With regards to your remark, yes it was crass and in my specific life a potential trigger, however you very quickly accepted it and held your hand up.
I stopped moderating because I am not interested in getting into who should or shouldn't be banned for what.
The bottom line is that in this specific case, misinformation has been spread as racist agents with an agenda look to force their own bricky views further. We do NOT KNOW the facts about the perpetrator. What we DO know is that kids were horrifically attacked, hurt, and killed. That's cause enough for discussions on knife crime and what we can do.
The specific crime that sparked the incident was the stabbing of young children at a dance event in Southport by a single male.
I will say that IF (as it appears has already happened) there is an agenda to hold specific communities and people 'responsible' for things which factually have not been established as even touching them, then perhaps there is something to be said about reflecting on the tens of thousands of children right now in several countries who are suffering greatly/dead. Again, I think if this specific crime is being discussed, then the facts are what should dictate the flow of conversation.
Not that you asked, but I will add in general why I told the story about my Dad. I did so because I have often reflected on the sheer double ignorance of the racism he suffered. 'Paki'. He was Iranian. They aren't 'all the same' but when racists want to weaponise the agenda and hurl it out into the world, the people who get sucked in end up failing on simple facts! For the record, in my heart of hearts I do not believe Marky is malicious, I simply think he found his emotions on the rise and that perhaps the channels he goes to for his information led with this 'anti immigrant/Britian as a 3rd world country' agenda, an agenda by the way I find both repulsive and wrong. In a sense (and I appreciate there is lots of assumption here) I want to believe that if he gets distance from it all, he would totally see how racist provocateurs 'play' and 'use' these situations to stoke up the race/culture wars they desperately want.
The reason I have written this long reply mate, is again because I agree that even at the height of anger, discussion and listening is the only way we might find our way long-term out of this increasing wormhole, thus allowing our kids to maybe have better lives.
I genuinely appreciate your efforts to have a conversation.
p.s. With regards to the asylum seeker issues you have raised, I started a thread with some facts and figures for those interested. The facts and figures are out there with regards to 'breakdowns' (the uk gov has extensive stats - suffice to say the facts don't reflect the paranoia). There is a discussion to be had with regards as to how asylum seekers are kept whilst awaiting processing i.e. certain groups can end up in situation where they are 'housed' next to other groups they don't get on with, and coupled with the indefinite waiting, problems arise.